Another strike after yesterday’s doctors’ industrial action. Today is London Buses’ first strike for 30 years. Thousands of bus drivers in London have been on strike from 3:00 am today for 24 hours in a dispute over a £500 bonus for working during the Olympics, and around two third of bus routes have been disrupted. I wondered why some buses are working and others are not. I didn’t know that London’s buses are operated by different private sector bus companies (Wikipedia), and members of Unite at 17 bus firms went on strike but others working with other three companies are not joining after the firms won an injunction against the strike action. According to the Unite, other transport workers such as London Underground, London Overground and Docklands Light Railway, will receive over £500 bonus, and it is not fair for bus drivers who are not offered so far an appropriate share (BBC News).

Again, I will not make any comment on their action. But Londoners are used to this kind of disruption and seem to handle the situation quite calmly, though they have to face delays, detours, or alternative crowded transports, or walk or cycle to their destination. At the end, British are very patient people!

It was shocking to find this open letter from British Medical Association, published on the Evening Standard today; the letter declares that doctors will go on 24-hour strike tomorrow on June 21. It is said that this is the first strike by doctors since 1975 (BBC news). I was surprised by the fact that even doctors go on strike as I’ve never heard of it in Japan, but after searching on internet, I realised that there had been cases in the world.

I don’t know much about the major reform on their pension scheme that causes this stunning decision, but it seems to be more or less the same as other public sector strikes (past entry). I thought industrial actions are for unfairly treated workers fighting to improve their working conditions, but not for the well-paid professionals with prestige. They have a right to strike and I don’t want to debate about the details of the pension scheme reform, but ethically it is a bit hard for me to accept it. I feel sorry for millions of patients who have to spend a nervous day without doctors?? Due to the strike action, non-urgent treatment will be postponed or cancelled and I am afraid this will cause huge disappointment and outrage by many patients who have been patiently waiting for months under NHS system famous for notoriously long waiting period for ‘non-urgent’ treatment. This type of sudden cancellation actually happened to my friend the day before the operation (she had been waiting 3 months to the point), due to another urgent operation took her space, and had to wait another painful month to the next available slot. Poor people who have an appointment tomorrow…

However, there is some good news. Telegraph says three quarters of surgeries to stay open as usual. There is also an interesting theory that the death rate goes down when doctors strike! Some examples are in Israel in 1973 (▼39％), Columbia in 1976 (▼35％), and LA in 1976 (▼18％) (ref: BBC / full fact.org). Though this phenomenon can be explained that non-emergency procedures are postponed or cancelled during a strike, the fact that many people die during an operation is a scary fact as well for me.

世界中で報道されているように、イギリスは今日、教師、医師を含む病院職員など、29の労働組合員最大200万人！が参加という、大規模な公務員24時間ストの話題で盛り上がっている。政府は緊縮政策の一環で、「pay more / work longer / get less（税金アップ、定年年齢引き上げ、年金額減額）」という公務員年金改革を予定しており、それに組合が激怒したわけで、ここ何十年で最大規模になるそう。ロンドン中心部でも正午から夕方5時までデモが行われた。予想されたより混乱は少なく、予定されていた手術3万件のうち7000件がキャンセル、ロンドンの主な2空港もほぼ正常通りだったそう。それでも多少の混乱は避けられず、公立学校の3分の2が休校、ロンドンの999通報（イギリスの警察・救急・消防の緊急通報用番号）はアクセスが難しい状況らしい。

キャメロン首相は、このストを「something of a dump squib」（湿った花火のようなもの＝不発）と呼び、政府の方針を変える予定はないみたいので、これからも組合のストは続く恐れあり。でも公務員は盛り上がっているけれど、一般人は、それでも民間に比べて公務員は恵まれた待遇にいると、少し冷めた目で見ているよう。それにしても教員は12週間も有給休暇があるって本当？？

As reported around the globe, today’s hot topic in UK is public sector strike, joined by up to 2 million workers! from 29 unions, including teachers and NHS healthcare workers. As a part of government’s austerity measure, public workers will face “pay more, work longer, and get less ” pension reform, and this policy obviously upsets unions and has urged public sector workers to the biggest strike in few decades. There was a big rally in central London from mid day to 5pm today. However, the disruption seems to be less than expected – for example, a little fewer than 7,000 of around 30,000 routine operations have been cancelled and London’s two main airports are said to be largely unaffected with only a few cancellations. But still two third of state schools are closed, and London’s ambulance service is struggling to take up 999 calls (UK’s emergency telephone number). Be careful not to get injured or sick today if you are in UK!

Prime Minister David Cameron called this action as “something of a dump squib” and doesn’t seem to have any intention to change the plan – therefore further strikes may be expected to come. In contrast to the enthusiasm of public sector workers, general public doesn’t seems to share the same level of passion about this, as they believe that pension scheme of public sector still better than private sector. By the way, is it true that teachers enjoy 12-week paid holidays??

Large scale public sector strike hits UK today for protesting government’s state pension reforms (BBC news/photos/the Independent/Daily Mail). 20,000 took part in the main demonstration in central London and protests were held in around 80 towns and cities across the country. Public services, such as schools, passport controls, courts, prisons, driving test centres, and job centers, has been disrupted. Unions said about 750,000 workers joined the strike, though the government said about 100,000 or one in five civil servants walked out. 11,000 out of 21,000 (or at least 40%) schools across England and Wales, were closed or partially closed. Even over 90% police staff who handle emergency 999 calls walked out!

The government insists everyone must share the pain as it cuts £80 billion from public spending to reduce Britain’s huge deficit. The government plan is cutting civil service jobs and benefits, raising the state pension age from 65 to 66, increasing the public sector workers’ contribution to pensions and reducing their retirement payouts. The official figures showed that every working family in Britain is currently liable for £13,500 to cover teachers’ pensions – massive 90% increase over the past decade. Private sector workers have to bear with much higher burden than civil workers and must pay a third of their salary to match civil worker benefits (Daily Mail article). It sounds a bit unfair to me.

Of course everyone hates to loose benefit you are expecting to receive. But I just can’t agree with such a large scale disruption, causing public a huge inconvenience even they have a right to, because they are paid by tax payers’ money! I understand these actions if they are unreasonably taken away their rights to have basic quality of life, but it seems to me that they are quite privileged, in compare to private sector which have been going through the tough time without the government’s backup.

The photo below is a newspaper ad by a labor union Unite on the Guardian, accusing British Airways (BA) management. Now a battle between BA and Unite, the largest British labor union of which 90% of BA cabin attendants are members, has become uglier (see my past entry). The total of astonishing 20 days strike from May 18 to early June planed by Unite, had been due to start yesterday, but the court blocked the strike on 17th, claiming that Unite had not followed the correct procedure – again, like the last time. Unite immediately challenged the decision, and the appeal court will give a decision on Thursday. Despite the ruling, BA cancelled one in ten long-haul flights and almost half of its short-haul flights from the airport today.

Unite even made a website, http://www.brutish-Airways.com, to accuse BA of ‘bullying’ crew members. According to Unite, “BA carried on a campaign of bullying and victimisation against cabin crew, while Unite negotiated in ‘good faith’ to come to an agreement that both sides could live with.” ” BA is taking disciplinary action against more than 50 crew members who have been suspended on spurious charges arising from the dispute, and seven crew have been dismissed. Thousands of cabin crew and their families have had long-established travel arrangements removed.” “BA won’t listen to their cabin crew staff or to their Unite representatives in order to settle this dispute, and staff are unable to speak out for fear of being victimized or sacked if they do.” On the opposite, BA claims that “the obstacle to the resolution of this dispute is the refusal of this small group of Bassa (British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association) hardliners to accept that the world has changed.”

After Icelandic ash cloud, now the possible big strike – it is another big blow to loss-making BA. It is said that BA would lose £140 million from the strike. For sure there are both sides of the story, but who cares! Take care of your own garbages, without annoying their customers!

* UPDATE: Unite won the appeal and a ban on industrial action was overturned. A series of 5-days strikes is supposed to start next Monday, unless an agreement can be made…

First news is a good one: High Court blocks a planned 12-day strike (Dec 22 to Jan 2) by British Airways (BA) cabin crew, after ruling that the strike ballot was illegal, and saves more than a million people’s travel plans during this busy period. We are so pleased to hear this news, as we are planning to visit M’s family in Italy for Christmas with British Airlines.

Due to the harsh competition with no-frills airlines and foreign airlines from the countries with cheaper wages, BA suffers daily loss of £1.6 million and £3.7 billions pension fund deficit, and reported a record pre-tax loss of £292m during April to September, traditionally its most profitable trading period. Struggling BA have taken cost cutting measures such as 1700 job cuts (total of 4900 to 2010), a slash of the number of crews on board, and a two-year pay freeze for cabin crew. But Unite, the largest labor union in UK, is upset as these measures have been taken without a negotiation with them, and announced the strike on Dec 14, backed with 92% of ‘yes’ votes of the members in the ballot. If strike would have taken place, it would have cost BA £10 to £30 millions a day and would have affected the merger with Spanish Iberia Airlines in a bid to survive. BA took the issue to the High Court on Dec 15, to halt the strike as illegal, because the ballot included 1,000 workers who have been made redundant.

The strike was planned in the busiest period of the year, and it is reported that the decision of the strike grounded in internal politics – these made majority of the people angry and be the company’s side. And 12 days? No way! BA cabin crews earn average of £29,900, twice as much as the wage of Virgin Atlantic’s £14,400 and 50% higher than easyJet’s average crew wage of £20,200, and it is the highest pay in UK – who would feel sorry for them with their ‘worsening’ condition in the recession?? I don’t think the quality of service by BA crews and workers are better than their rivals either. How do union members believe that their company can win the competition against the rivals with cheaper price and/or better service, without cutting cost?? As other failing former national flagship airlines such as Japan Airlines and Alitalia, BA workers seems to cling to the good old time treatment without existence of its rivals, and may believe that the government will help the airline in the worst case. But time has changed. I don’t think the government with mounting debt can get taxpayer’s support to help them, if BA is not capable of implementing the survival plan because of the union’s stubborn “old militant” tactics. Maybe the best option is to make BA fail and to restart from scratch.

The second is the bad news. The biggest Scottish airline Flyglobespan failed after its parent company collapsed yesterday and all flights were cancelled. About 4,500 passengers were stranded, mostly in Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Egypt. It is expected tnearly 800 jobs would be lost and over 100,000 passengers will loose their reserved flights. I’d never heard or seen this Edinborough-based airline, until I heard this news today. Many new discount airlines were born in the years of good economy, but quite many of them are not doing well due to the economic decline, and probably some will disappear in the future – we customers will loose convenience and freedom of choice in airlines and destination, and probably it will be the end of ultra-cheap flights as competition lessens.